Frame for hand-bags, pocket-books, and the like.



L. B. & L. L. PRAHAR'.

FRAME FOR HAND BAGS POCKET BOOKS, AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 29, 1910.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH CO.,WASHINGTON, D, c.

LOUIS B. PRAHAR, OF MASSAPEQUA, AND LESTER L. PRAHAR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FRAME FOR HAND-BAGS, POCKET-BOOKS, AND THE LIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LoUIs B. PRAHAR and LESTER L. PRAHAR, citizens of the United States, and residents of Massapequa,

,Nassau county, State of New York, and

the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, re spectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Frames for Hand- Bags, Pocket-Books, and the Like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to jaws for hand bags, pocketbooks or the like, although it may be used in connection with various other articles having sheet metal frames. It is especially applicable to that form of j aw or frame which has a sheet metal channel shaped member to which the cloth, leather or other material forming the body of the bag is secured. I

Attempts have been made to improve the appearance of articles of this character in various ways, but the cost of directly deccrating the jaw is prohibitive for the cheaper grades of hand bags andpocketbooks. Securing an additional ornamental plate to the side of the jaw will not only greatly improve the appearance ofthe article, but at the same time will protect the upper edge of the body of the bag and it will also conceal the upper edge of the body if the latter should accidentally work loose from the aw. Great diiiiculty has been experienced in producing an inexpensive ornamental plate, and securing it in place in an inexpensive and attractive manner.

In the cheaper grades of bags the jaws are commonly formed from sheet brass bent to the desired form by means of suitable dies, and then dipped in some solution to give the jaw a nickel plating, silver plating or other coating. In order to reduce toa minimum the cost of the ornamental plate it is necessary to etch, enamel or otherwise treat the plate before it is cut from the sheet, so that a large number of plates may be made at the same time and then stamped out. This leaves the edge of each plate without coating or plating of any character, so that if the plate be directly secured to the side of the jaw by solder or rivets the sharp edge of the plate will be exposed, so that it Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. December 29, 1910.

Patented June 11, 1912.

Serial No. 599,970.

is liable to scratch or injure other articles, and also the fact that the edge is not coated or plated will be obvious even from a cursory inspection. If the plate be secured to the jaw before the latter is coated with nickel plating, silver plating, or the like, the solution forming the coating is liable to destroy or injure the ornamentation on the plate.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive means for quickly and securely fastening an ornamental plate of this character to the side of the jaw in such a way that the edges of the plate will be concealed and the plate itself will protect a portion of the body of the bag.

In order to overcome the difficulties above referred to, we utilize an intermediate plate or strip, which we secure to the side of the jaw either before the latter is nickel-plated, silver-plated, or otherwise coated or finished; or we may coat the jaw and strip separately and then secure them together. Thus all the exposed edges or faces of this last-mentioned intermediate plate or strip will be covered wit-h the coating or plating material. The strip has its upper edge and its end edges bent back upon themselves, so as to form a groove or channel to receive the upper edge and the end edges of the ornamental plate. The ornamental plate after being cut to proper size is slipped into the grooves of the intermediate plate, so as to have its edges entirely concealed and protected.

The groove of the intermediate plate or strip forms an ornamental border for the ornamental plate and the ornamental plate may be secured within this border in any suitable manner, for instance, by a drop of solder upon the rear surface or by slightly bending or pinching the ends of the grooves on the intermediate plate.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts of the several views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device constructed in accordance with our invention, the ornamental plate and back body being in position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the frame, the plate and body being removed: Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2; and Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sections on a smaller scale through slightly different forms.

In the drawing we have illustrated our invention as applied to a hand bag having a pair of jaws hinged together, each jaw being formed of a piece of sheet brass, substantially channel-shaped in cross-section and bent to the proper form. The means for securing the jaws together, as well as the means for securing the body of the bag to the jaws, does not involve a portion of our present invention and, therefore, need not be further referred to. The outer face of the jaw constitutes the web 10 of the channel, and the body of the bag is secured between the two flanges 11, 12 of the channel. The outer flange 12 is the one to which we apply our ornamental and protecting plate. This plate 13 may be formed of sheet brass, or other inexpensive material, and has its outer surface etched, enameled or otherwise decorated to give it an attractive appearance. As previously stated, certain forms of these ornamental plates in order to be manufactured inexpensively are cut from a single large sheet, which has previously been treated to produce the ornamentation of a large number of plates at the same time. Therefore, the edges of the plate show the character of the material forming the plate. The plate is preferably of a length approximately equal to that of the jaw, and may be of any width desired, but is preferably somewhat wider than the flange 12. For securing the ornamental plate in position, we employ an intermediate plate 14, formed of thin sheet brass, permanently secured to the flange 12 by solder, or suitable means. This intermediate plate 14 in the specific form illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 lies in engagement with the flange 12 and has its outer peripheral edge bent back upon itself, so as to form a bead 15 within which there is a channel or groove. This bead extends along the entire edge of the plate and also along the ends of the plate and is of a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the plate 13. The plate 14 may be secured in position by a drop or two of solder upon the rear surface and may be held in the proper position during the soldering operation and after being soldered by flanges 16 bent to extend into the channel and engage with the inner surface of the flange 12. There may be a plurality of separate flanges 16 along the edge portion of the plate and also along the end portions so as to properly hold the plate 14 in position. The plate 14, as previously stated, may be secured in position before the jaw or frame is nickle-plated, silvered, or otherwise coated, or the two may be treated separately and then secured together. In any event the securing means will be concealed from view. After this operation is completed, the plate 13 is slid into the two end grooves and upwardly until it enters the outer groove of the bead 15. The bead covers'the outer edge and the end edges of the plate 14 and conceals them from view. The lower edge is of course exposed, but this faces outwardly and is in close engagement with the fabric, leather or the like, forming the body of the bag and will therefore be practically invisible. Before permanently retaining the plate 18 in position, a drop of solder may be placed on the back or the tip ends of the bead 15 and may be bent downwardly to prevent the plate 13 from sliding out. Preferably this bending is relied upon as it involves a very simple operation and avoids the necessity for using solder.

Instead of holding the plate 14 in position in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, we may use the means employed for holding thevbody of the bag in position for also holding the plate in position. In Figs. 4 and 5 we have shown the sheet material 18 of the body of the bag gripped within an inner frame 19, which latter slides into the channel of the jaw and is held therein by rivets 20 adjacent the hinges of the jaw, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The plate 14 of Fig. 4 has a flange 16 corresponding to the flange 16 shown in Fig. 3, but this flange preferably extends continuously along the length of the plate instead of being'in short sections and, furthermore, it extends inwardly to the web, thence along the inner surface of the web and thence along the inner surface of the opposite flange 11 of the channel. It is thus evident that the inner frame 19, which holds the sheet material 18 of the body, also holds the plate 14 in position; thus we entirely avoid the necessity for any soldering to secure the plate 14 in position and as the ornamental plate 13 may be secured in position by bending the ends 17, it is evident that no solder whatsoever need be employed in securing the parts together. In Fig. 5 we have shown a structure substantially identical with that shown in Fig. 4, except that the inner flange 16 does not extend along the surface of the flange 11. It is only essential that the innermost portion of this flange 16 be bent laterally to such an extent as to prevent the flange 16 from sliding out of the channel.

It is of course understood that our invention is not limited for use in securing etched, plated, or coated plates in position, but is equally applicable for securing in position the stamped embossed or otherwise decorated plates. In either case the bead serves to conceal the jaw edge of the plate and to very effectively hold the parts together.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A jaw for hand-bags, pocket-books and the like, having a frame member, a side plate and a sheet metal strip disposed between the outer surface of said member and the inner surface of said plate, and having its outer edge folded outwardly and backwardly upon itself to form a groove into which the outer edge of said plate may slide to conceal the outer edge of said plate, and having its end edges folded over to form grooves facing each other, along which the end edges of said plate may slide, and means for rigidly securing said strip to said frame member prior to the attachment of the plate to the former.

2. A jaw for hand-bags, pocket-books and the like having a frame member substantially in the form of a channel in cross section, the channel serving to receive the edge of the body of the bag, a side plate upon the outer surface of the body of the bag, and a sheet metal strip partially concealed by said plate, and having its outer edge and its end edges folded over to form grooves or channels into which said plate may slide to conceal the upper edge and end edges of said plate, the said strip having a portion of its.

lower edge folded back upon itself, and extending into said. channelalongside the body of the bag, to position said strip.

3. A jaw for hand bags, pocket books and the like having a frame member substantially in the form of a channel in cross sec tion, the channel serving to receive the edge of the body of the bag, a side plate upon the outer surface of the body of the bag, and a sheet metal strip partially concealed by said plate and serving to conceal the outer and the end edges of said plate and having its opposite edge folded back upon itself and extending into said channel inside of the body of the bag and thence substantially across the channel inside of the latter, whereby said strip positions said plate and the body of the bag retains said strip in position.

In witness whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS B. PRAHAR. LESTER L. PRAHAR.

Witnesses F. L. Coon, C. W. FAIRBANK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

